The Best Tasting Ever...

In my job I get to taste and drink a lot of good and great wines and sometimes, wines that are not so good. I always find it funny that I remember only the really, really good and the really, really bad wines – which is a shame as I am sure there are some really amazing ones in between. I’ve certainly had some memorable tastings such as the 9 decades of Chateau Ksara (1930’s to present day), an 1880 Madeira and 60’s Lafite and Latour tastings but I am not sure I have had one as pleasurable as I did last night.

Last night, in the company of Frank Martell, I had the pleasure of tasting wines from Massandra, the winery in the Crimea (Ukraine) that makes some of the best wines I have ever been fortunate enough to try. Not just last night, but over the last few months I have been doing a lot of tasting from this winery as the fortified nature of the wines is something I just love. But last night was special because I tasted Sherries, ports, Muscat’s and more from the 1930’s to 2002.

After posting a picture of four of the wines on Facebook last night many people asked me for tasting notes of the wines, something I am not particularly good at as they are generally full of Saxon expletives (a trait I have as a Brit to swear uncontrollably maybe or just the Tourette’s kicking in as I get more excited, not sure yet!) I have noticed over the years that a quick swear word in a tasting note box generally means that the wine is fantastic – so you can imagine how many there were in last night’s notes!

The wines themselves are about to be auctioned off by Heritage Auctions in Beverly Hills on March 29^th (Friday night), but potential buyers in Hong Kong will be able to sit through, watch and bid during the auction owing to a live streaming of it being held in Shouson Hill’s Crown Wine Cellars starting from 9am on the 30^th (Saturday morning).

So, as per request, here is the list of amazing wines with some slightly edited tasting notes to go with them.

1955 Massandra Sherry – Wicked oxidized nose and an amazing light colour with nutty aromas. One taster said “One to write home about”. Nice and warming after the freezing cold taxi ride here. What a fantastic finish!

1983 Massandra Sherry – Darker than the ’55 (can’t believe I am writing that!) More putrid oxidation on the nose but more subtle on the palate with a shorter and more floral finish. More feminine and perfumed but with less nuttiness than the ’55.

1972 Massandra Red Port – 100% Mourvedre with 2 years in neutral oak. Incredible nose that’s almost barnyard like a good aged Burgundy. Devoid of acidity but full of red fruits and subtle spices. Incredible wine, no sweetness on the nose but agreeable strawberry flavours on the palate.

1987 South Coast Red Port – Seperavi blend. Nice ruby colour with a more Port-like nose that’s plumy with a really long finish. So many different layers and characters – cinnamon, cloves and spice. Mulled wine springs to mind. Killer finish.

1948 Crimea Red Port – My dad’s birth year! 3 years in oak and 5 years before anyone even tries this wine in the winery to see if they have anything decent! Subtle nose but hints of alcoholic content, dry almond-like palate that’s dusty and grainy but with a beautiful long finish. Sublime creaminess with a great mid-palate. Outstanding!

1976 South Coast White Port – Amber colour, smells so youthful not unlike present day vintages. Plummy, sweet and unctuous. Fantastic balance and very addictive! Dude, sweet! So many honey nuances - Winnie the Pooh, eat your heart out!

1945 Crimea White Port – Herbaceous, tea leaf aromas with some little funky aromas but f**k me, they made this during World War Two! Seriously dude, no matter what this tastes like, it’s a piece of history. Light on the palate with nice complexity on the finish, rich but feminine – kind of like a Tai Tai.

1976 Surozh Kokour Dessert – Ukraine’s answer to d’Yquem. Amber colour with a lovely sweet nose of tropical fruits and nuts. Thick on the palate with medicinal characters but the sweetness comes through – truly amazing. Very, very long mouthwatering finish, truly outstanding, the flavours slowly dissipate like a cloud in your mouth.

1997 Prince Golitzin Seventh Heaven – Only their second ever vintage after 1880 when they lost the formula and spend decades trying to re-make it! Lovely orange colour with raisin, dried mango and apricot on the nose. Dude, really? This is simply incredible! Almost speechless – could drink the whole bottle. Fat and smooth and a real joy to drink.

2002 Prince Golitzin Seventh Heaven – Even sweeter than the ’97 with obvious nectar on the nose. On the palate, not much difference from the ’97. This is the youngest vintage they would let Frank take out of their cellars.

1973 South Coast Tokay – Furmint and Harslevelu blend just as in Tokaj. Weird shit brown colour that’s surely deceptive. Really fantastic nutty nose but the palate screams Pedro Ximninez rather than Tokaj. Absolutely delightful, like a celestial nymph, you just want to ravish it endlessly.

1944 South Coast Tokay – Dude, really, 1944? Such clarity on the colour, really incredibly clear! More flowery and plumy with such beautiful flavours, I’d have said 90-95 not 44! Pure perfection in a bottle, truly outstanding and again one pictures sex while drinking this. An elusive elixir you’d expect only to be found by treasure hunting Indiana Jones. Lost for words.

1973 South Coast Kagor – 100% Seperavi. Quervi seperavi is like the crying baby whilst this is like the smiling baby! Delightful! Sweet nose, easily can pick the grape. Good acidity and nice light weight savoury pork choppy finish. Want to pair with Iberico pork or Jamon. Would work well for the lady drinker.

1933 Ayu-Dag Kagor – 80 years old! Seriously! Deep dark amber colour, truly amazing. Still very fruit forward with red berries and WOW! Fantastic aromas in the secondary nose and so dry considering the sugar content (17.6% residual sugar). A true privilege to drink. Other tasters; “Expensive treacle” and “Like burnt treacle, but no burnt taste”!

1977 South Coast Rose Muscat – Best birth year ever! Nice to find another ’77 this year! This molasses on the nose, can’t believe this is a “rosé”. Mild brown colour with a palate of fruit and a finish to die for. A wine tasters wet dream, it’s that good!

1945 Dessert Rose Muscat – Age evident in the colour. So many flavours going on in the palate and a seriously big wine. Candy, sugar, complexity, much like a PX, it would be tough to have more than one glass. But where there’s a will there’s a way!! Chill this down a little more and it would be stunning. The caramel…oh the caramel!

1948 Gurzuf Rose Muscat – Lovely transparency on the colour and with very low alcohol for a fortified (12.3%) It tastes like everything good in Grandma’s house. Lost for even swear words – magical! Floral and simply incredible – my brain is numb!

1940 Ai-Danil Pinot Gris – Seriously? Pinot Gris? Brown colour and aromas of smoky tea, lot’s of wood and open fire aromas – cedar, forest, vanilla; seriously interesting nose. On the palate; sophisticated tea notes while the sweetness comes at the finish. Reminds me of the melted Demerara sugar on the top of porridge.

1953 Dessert White Muscat – Anise on the nose like a Sichuan hot pot. Almost metallic aroma, but in a good way! Caramel colours but so many layers, like a musical score that goes through all the octaves it has layer upon fantastic layer that’s seemingly endless. **** me! Possibly the most interesting of the lot. Truly incredible!

1931 Massandra White Muscat – Chinese herb doctor on the nose! Eucalyptus and anise the obvious smells. Smooth and then the sweetness kicks in, it tastes like the smell of a penny sweet shop in England. Truly outstanding, well worth a try for the finish alone that just keeps going and going. Speechless.

There you have it! Tasting notes my style! But seriously, if you get the chance to buy or taste any of these wines, or any of the others from Massandra for that matter, dive right in and don’t worry about the bank balance. It is well worth it. As a lover of fortified wines, this was truly an unforgettable experience and one that I am sure I will remember until my dying day. If you want to go to the auction on Saturday you’ll need to contact Crown Wine Cellars on 2580 6287.